Surprise Bundle
by emerl01
Summary: Luc arrives home one night to find a surprise waiting for him. Its the last thing he expected.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

It was just over 10 months on since she had left him, gone off to clean herself up. But the hurt was still real, he still missed her every hour of every day.  
He still though he saw her sometimes in the ward or in the corridors out of the corner of his eye but when he'd look around, she'd be gone. His imagination playing tricks on him. The others in the ward had tried to cheer him up, Sacha and Michael had started organizing frequent poker nights at one of their houses. He'd gone along to be sociable and had actually found himself having a good time on occasion but he still felt empty most of the time.

Today had been a particularly draining shift, a busy day with car crashes, stabbings, and the usual mix of accidents and flu cases, the usual mixed bag for the end of September. He was really looking forward to just lying down and going to sleep. He unlocked the campervan door and turned on the lights. He threw his bag down on the sofa and all at once this loud wailing noise erupted, wahwahwah!  
He looked up to see a baby in a car seat sitting on top of his kitchen table. He stood there for a few seconds thinking he was seeing things again. He strectched out his hand to feel a warm fleece blanket. Yes, there is a baby sitting on my kitchen table he told himself. "Ok, ok stop crying" he said as he picked up the baby. As he picked it up a note fell to the floor. Balancing the baby in one arm he picked up the note and laid it down on the table, it read " Luc, I'm sorry for so much that has happended. I'm sorry I didnt tell you about our son Lucas until now. It was all so complicated and confusing. Please help him, he's sick and I dont know why. I think I'm making him worse. This is all my fault. Please look after him and tell him his mummy loves him every day. I cant help him anymore. Love him as much as you loved me once. Eddie."

He read the note over and over. Oh, my god, i have a son. The noise of Lucas' wailing jerked him back to reality. He laid the baby back in the seat and stared at him. He looked at the rest of the pieces of paper with the letter. There were some medical notes from a hospital in London and a copy of Lucas' birth cert. He looked at the names, mother -Eddie Mc Kee, father - Luc Hemingway. Even seeing the names in black and white still didnt make it real. He looked back at Lucas who was still crying. He touched his forehead and realised he was burning up.

Panic washed over him. He grabbed Lucas up in his arms, bundled the blanket around him and ran back to AAU. He burst in the doors and headed straight for Sacha who was still working. "Sacha, Sacha, you have to help me, he's burning up!". Sacha directed Luc to a spare bed and Luc lay the baby down on it. " I found him in the campervan, he's not good".  
Sacha soon started checking the baby and ordering a barrage of blood tests from the nurses. After about half an hour of frenzied activities, the baby's condition started to improve. Sacha went over to Luc who as by the bedside. "How's he doing now?" "He seems to be cooling down, his temperature has dropped. What is it an infection?" asked Luc. "Looks like it, we'll know more when we get the lab results back but he's responding well". "We'll have to contact social services, get them to send down a social worker to look after him, where did you find him again?"  
asked Sacha. "What? He doesnt need a social worker" said Luc. Luc, you said you found him abandoned?" said Sacha. "No, i didn't. I said i found him in my campervan, she left him there for me where he'd be safe."  
"Who did?" asked Sacha. " Eddie did. He's our son. She left me a note. Lucas has been sick and she cant look after him so she left him for me." whispered Luc sadly. "What you didnt know? You didnt even know she was pregnant?" asked Sacha. "No, I just found out this evening. There must be something else wrong with him other than the infection, she left some notes from a hospital in London" said Luc. "You can have a look at the other results when they come back, you're the medical genius, I'm sure you'll figure out what it is. Oh, and by the way, welcome to fatherhood!" said Sacha giving Luc a clap on the back.

Lucas' condition steadily improved over the next 24 hours and word had spread around the ward that he was Luc's son. Chrissie had been particularly helpful to Luc, showing him how to change nappies, dress Lucas and hold him. She had also promised to give Luc some of Daniel's old baby clothes and baby accessories that she still had at home.  
Luc's main worry was that Lucas wasnt eating much, well he was eating the baby milk but wasnt keeping it down. He asked Sacha to have the lab perform a few more tests on Lucas' blood. He would have to wait about 24 hours for the results of these blood tests but he hoped that they would show something that would explain Lucas' dislike for the baby formula.

In the meantime, Luc was finding it a challenge learning about how to look after a baby. "You'd think over 7 years in medical school and working in hospitals would prepare you for looking after a baby wouldn't you?" he said to Sacha. "Luc, Daniel is nearly 5 years old and I'm still learning how to be a parent! Wait until he starts answering you back, that's when the fun starts!" he replied laughing. "I guess I have all that to look forward to!" replied Luc while cradling Lucas in his arms. With that, a nurse came in and handed Sacha a sheet of lab results. Sacha had a look at them. "These dont make much sense to me, you have a look", he said handing them to Luc. Luc read them a number of times and the shouted "Eureka! My boy, I know what's wrong!". "So what is it?" asked Sacha. "It's all my fault, not Eddie's!" he said to a confused looking Sacha. "Luc, enlighten the rest of us!" pleaded Sacha. "Eddie said in her note that she though it was her fault that Lucas was sick but it's not, it's mine. He has an enzyme deficiency that is preventing him from digesting the baby formula properly but it's my fault not hers because it runs in my family." "It's actually quite rare. I only know about it because I have it and so do a few other members of my family. I can't drink cow's milk, just goats milk. Once we switch Lucas over to a different formula he should start to thrive" he said relieved. "Ah, that's excellent news", said Sacha. "I only wish i could let Eddie know, she probably thinks it was something to do with the drugs that's causing this instead of just my dodgy genetic material!" replied Luc.

"Maybe i'll try leaving her a message on her phone if she still has the same number and I'll call Liam to let him know that Lucas will be ok" said Luc.  
"I wonder does Liam even know about Lucas' existence, after all, Eddie didnt tell you about him, maybe she didnt tell her family either?" said Sacha. "I guess we'll soon find out" said Luc.

Luc called Liam who was reluctant to speak to him at first but changed when Luc mentioned the baby. Liam told him that Eddie had gotten cleaned up but suddenly left Leeds about 6 months after her drug rehab had started. She was clean by then but hadnt told them she was pregnant much less that it was Luc's baby she was carrying. Liam hadn't heard from her since then but he thought she might have gone to London as she had some friends from nursing college there. He eventually admitted that Eddie had had a row with their mother about her drinking and had left after it. Luc told Liam that he could come see his nephew anytime and promised to send him some photos of Lucas. They both promised to keep in touch. Luc was still none the wiser about where Eddie might be, maybe London still but who knows. He knew that being separated from Lucas was probably torture to her and hoped she wouldn't fall back on her old habits to try to drown out the pain of being separated from her baby.

Chapter 2:

Lucas was soon out of hospital and taking up so much space in the campervan that Luc realised they needed to move somewhere bigger and with proper heating now that the winter was drawing in. Luc was lucky, he managed to find a furnished 2 bedroom apartment about 5 mins from the hospital that was perfect for them. He decided to keep the campervan just in case he'd need it some day. They settled into a routine of looking after baby and working. Luc tried to look after Lucas as much as he could by himself, he figured that the 2 of them were a family now and that they needed to look after each other. He was able to put Lucas in the hospital creche most of the time while he worked or if not, some of the nurses from AAU would look after Lucas for him when they weren't working. Chrissie even minded Lucas on a few occasions for him when he went to play poker with the lads. Most nights Lucas would fall asleep on top of Luc's chest while Luc read him stories from children's books or from whatever book he was reading himself. Lucas falling asleep on his chest always reminded him of Eddie and they way she would curl up against him while they watched television. He missed her every day but did as she had asked and told Lucas that his mother loved him every night as he was putting Lucas into his cot.

It had been 2 months since Lucas' unexpected arrival and it had been a normal work day. Luc had picked up Lucas from the creche after work and was calling into the shops on his way home from work to buy nappies yet again. He still couldn't believe one little small boy could use so many of them in the space of 24 hours but they always seemed to be running out of them. He bumped into Jac in the shop. "Hey Jac!"  
"Hi Luc. This must be your little lord and master!" said Jac pulling down Lucas' blanket from his face to have a better look. "Cute" she said. "How are you?" Luc asked. "I'm fine" replied Jac. "Just picking up the lastest issue of The Lancet to read while I wait for Johnny to finish shift so we can go to dinner."  
"We're just heading home up the road there if you want to join us for a drink while you wait, I think i might have a bottle of that beer you were drinking at Sacha's stag do left if you fancy one" replied Luc. "I wouldnt mind a bit of adult company for a while, there's only so much baby talk one person can put up with!" added Luc. "Well, if it will save your sanity, I accept!" Jac replied with a laugh. They went back to Luc's flat after making their purchases. However, Luc kept getting this feeling like they were being watched all the way back to the flat. Jac kept her promise to Luc and discussed hospital politics and medicine with him while enjoying her beer. She left after about an hour to meet Johnny for dinner. Luc settled down to a usual night of eating, reading, putting Lucas to bed and then getting to bed himself.

The next morning Luc as starting work at 8 am, so he got up, got himself ready and got Lucas ready for his day at the creche. He made sure to pack all the nappies, changes of clothes and bottles of special baby formula he needed for Lucas. He even remembered to make up some extra formula for him as the nursery nurse said she would start feeding him more as Lucas seemed to be a hungry baby at the moment. Luc had been relieved to hear this, it finally meant that they have found the right food for Lucas. Luc had thought that Lucas had gotten heavier over the last few days. Luc made his way to the hospital and dropped Lucas off at the creche before starting his shift. He walked into AAU to see Sacha already there up to his eyes in patients. Sacha told Luc there had been a huge fight outside one of the local pubs last night and they were still getting casualties from it coming in via the ED. "Hey Luc, they are bring in an unconscious female with a laceration to her leg from the ED in a few seconds, can you look after her?" asked Sacha. "Sure, no problem" said Luc. "Nurse, can you clear bed 8 please?" said Luc to a nearby nurse.

With that, the doors of AAU burst open and the trolley containing the unconscious female came hurtling towards Luc. He directed the porter towards bed 8 and started making his assessments of the female's injuries. He looked at her leg, "that laceration's very deep, we'll have to bring her into theatre later to sort that out". "In the meantime, can I get all of the usual blood tests. Now let me have a look at the rest of her". He looked up at the young female's face but couldnt see anything as her long dark brown hair was covering it. He gently pushed her hair away, and gasped in shock. "Oh, my god, Eddie!" he exclaimed. "Eddie, can you hear me" he almost shouted at the top of his voice. She started to stir, opening her eyes for a second and then closing them again. "Eddie, wake up, come on!" he exclaimed. She opened her eyes again, looked at him and slurred the words "Luc, where am i?". "Eddie, your in AAU, you were found unconscious and you've an injury to your leg". "What happened?" he asked as he grabbed her hand. She pushed his hand away, "dont touch me!" she said. "But your injured, i have to treat you", Luc replied. Eddie eventually calmed down after one of the nurses she used to work with spoke to her. Luc had walked away to try and get his head around what had just happened. He eventually came back over to her with the results of some of the tests they had run. "How are you feeling now?" he asked. "A bit better now, sorry about earlier, I guess I just freaked out. I was just confused about where i was and what had happened." she said. "All of your tests have come back clear so far, we'll just need to bring you into theatre to clean up your leg and stitch it up, no skinny dipping for you for a while though!" he said trying to make light of her injury to cheer her up. A sad look passed over her face and Luc knew what was coming next. "How's Lucas? Is he still sick?" she asked. "Eddie, he's getting bigger by the day!" "None of that was your fault or anything to do with the drugs" Luc replied. "Lucas' health problems were down to me, he has the same genetic fault as me that doesnt allow him to digest cows milk properly, once we got him onto the right type of baby formula he started piling on the pounds!", he said grabbing her hand to reassure her. "You'll be able to see how big he's gotten later when I bring him up to see you" he said.

Eddie started crying uncontrollably. Luc wrapped his arms around her. "Shush, he'll be fine" he said. "I'm so sorry for not telling you about him, I didnt know how you'd react or if you'd even want either of us in your life again. It was so hard looking after him by myself because he just wouldn't stop crying all the time and the doctors and nurses in London couldn't find anything wrong with him. I was just so exhausted and scared that's when I left him with you. It tore me apart every day not being with him" she said. "I know it did" replied Luc pulling her closer to him. When Eddie felt better Luc told her to have a something to eat and a rest and he'd be back later. He had a few patients to check up on. About an hour later he came back to Eddie's bed with Lucas in his arms. "Hey little man, there's someone who wants to see you" he said to Lucas as he brought him over to Eddie. Tears started streaming down her face. "Oh my god, I cant believe how much he's grown in 2 months!" Luc placed Lucas into Eddie's arms and she gave him the biggest hug she could. Luc just sat there smiling, glad to see Lucas back in the arms of his mother where he belonged. "You've obviously taken to fatherhood" she said to Luc. "Yes, its been a bit of a learning curve, but i wouldn't change it for the world" laughed Luc.

Luc had to turn serious now. "Eddie, you'll have to go in for your surgery soon, Michael will be along in a minute to go through it with you. I thought it best that he do it seeing as how he's the plastics guy and there wouldn't be as bad of a scar". "Dont worry, we'll both be waiting for you when you get out. It's about time for Lucas' afternoon nap time anyway, you can see he's getting tired". "Yes, ok" Eddie replied sadly. "Micheal said that if your surgery goes ok he'll discharge you into my care this evening once the anaesthetic wears off. You can come stay with the two of us while you get better" said Luc. "I wouldn't want to intrude on you" protested Eddie. "What about Jac?" asked Eddie. "Jac? What do you mean?" asked Luc. "I wouldn't want to intrude on you two" said Eddie. "Eddie, there's nothing between me and Jac. Where did you get that impression?" implored Luc. "But I saw her with you last night, she went back to your house..." replied Eddie. "Yes,she was waiting for Johnny to finish up in work so she came around for a drink while she waited. She only stayed about an hour" he said. "Eddie, there hasnt been anyone since you" he went on. "Oh, ok" she replied. "Listen, we'll talk about all this later, right now we need to get this little man back to the creche for his nap and his mummy needs her rest too" Luc said with a big smile. Eddie gave them both a kiss on the forehead and Luc brought Lucas back to the creche. Luc couldnt help but smile, it felt like things were finally starting to work out for him.

Chapter 3:  
Eddie's surgery went without a hitch and Micheal kept his promise by discharging her later that evening. She was waiting for Luc to finish up when Michael came over. "Are you still here? I though you couldn't wait to escape this joint?" he joked. "Just waiting on Luc to finish up so we can collect Lucas and go home" she replied. "Congratulations, you're a mommy now!" he joked. "I'm not sure I deserve to be one though, dumping him on Luc like that, I shouldn't have done that, run away at the first sign of trouble" she replied sadly. "Eddie from what Luc tells me you did the best you could for Lucas at the time, leaving him with his medical genius of a dad. Who else but Luc would have moved heaven and earth to find out why Lucas was sick and find a cure for him? In the end, Luc got lucky that he recognised the symptoms from his own family having the illness too, dumb luck as I always say" replied Michael. "Yes, I suppose. I'm just worried that Luc wont forgive me" she replied. "Forgive you, are you joking? Luc's been smiling like a maniac all afternoon ever since he got you back, he loves you to bits, both of them do!" Michael retorted. "If you say so" replied Eddie. "Just dont screw it up this time kiddo!" he exclaimed pulling her into a hug. "By the way, there's always a job for you here in AAU when you're feeling better" he stated. "I'll think about it" she replied. With that Luc came in with his coat and bag all ready to go. "Ready?" he asked. "Yes, take me home" she replied with a smile.

They collected Lucas from the creche and were making their way out of the hospital when they ran into Chantelle heading into the hospital. She gave Eddie a massive hug hello and cooed over Lucas before she made her excuses and ran off, she was late for her shift. They got back to Luc's appartment slowly as Eddie was now on crutches with her leg but insisted on walking the short distance instead of getting a taxi as Luc had requested. They all needed the fresh air she insisted. Luc settled Lucas in his bouncy chair while Eddie looked around admiring the flat. She was amazed at how homely Luc had made it. Of course, Lucas' stuff took over a good proportion of every room. She smiled at the wall decorations in Lucas' room, Luc had put up some of his photos from his travels on the walls to bringten it up along with some animal stickers. Luc set about making them some dinner and making up some of Lucas' bottles. "Do you want to give him his bottle? He's due one about now" asked Luc. "Oh, ok. Are you sure he'll take it from me?" she asked. "He's probably starving, he'll bite your hand off for it don't worry! We've had to increase the amount we're giving him now he's growing so much at the moment" laughed Luc. "Ok, but you dont have to rub it in" she said slightly annoyed. "What, oh i'm sorry, i didnt think" Luc replied appologetically. "Eddie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that, it wasnt any of your fault what happened before. I'm just so happy that he's putting on weight now and growing like he should be, i was being insensitive, i'm sorry." Luc walked over to her with a hurt feeling on his face. She pulled him over to her and hugged him. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm being oversensitive. I am happy that Lucas is ok now" she replied. Luc kissed her on the forhead. "Lets forget all about it now and look to the future" he said. "Yes, i like that idea. What's for dinner?" she asked. "Would madam like baby milk or spaghetti bolognaise?" he asked in a french waiter accent. "I think i'll go for the spaghetti but the young man here would like his milk please" she beamed. Luc went off to the kitchen and brought back Lucas' bottle so that Eddie could feed him. He was so hungry that he finished the whole bottle in one sitting. He gurlged away happily until Luc brought him for his bath. He got Lucas dressed after and put him to bed. As Luc was putting him in the cot he said his usual ritual "Daddy loves you" and kissed him and then "Mummy loves you" and another kiss. Eddie stood at the door to Lucas' room and said "I think mummy can do that herself now". Luc said, "sorry i forgot, force of habit i guess". Eddie walked over to the cot, bent down and kissed him goodnight herself.

They stood there arms wrapped around each other as Lucas drifted off to sleep. Neither of them wanting to be the one that broke the spell but eventually Eddie gave in and said "Can we eat now, I'm starving?".


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for all of your lovely reviews, this is my first fanfiction. Am still gutted Eddie has left. I thought this would be an interesting way for her to come back even if it is only for a few episodes. Also, would love to see JM acting with a baby, it would just be too cute!  
Hope you enjoy the next bit.

Chapter 4:

Lucas was sound asleep so Luc and Eddie went back into the kitchen to have their dinner. Luc began to tell Eddie all that had happened to him since she had left, which was not much really. He had thrown himself into his research work and had finally been getting somewhere, that was until Lucas had arrived and turned his whole world upside down. He'd have to get back to his research work soon. He told her about all of the changes that had happended at the hospital since she left, Hansen leaving and the new boss taking over. She appeared to be listening but her could tell there was something on her mind. "Are you ok? You seem to be miles away. What's wrong?" he asked. "Sorry, i'm just thinking about what's going to happen next?" she said. "How do you mean?" he asked. "Well, at the moment I'm practically broke, I dont have a job, and i have a son to look after" she replied. "Eddie, dont worry about that. At the moment you cant work because of your leg anyway. I'll look after you for now" he assured her. "Luc, that's fine but you know I like to look after myself. I dont want to live off charity" she protested. "I dont want you to feel obliged to look after me" she siad. "Eddie, I don't look on it as charity. If it means that much to you I'll start you a tab, that'll be 20 for dinner please!" he joked. "Luc, I'm being serious!" she pleaded. "Yes, i know. Dont worry about it, we'll work something out, ok" he assured seemed to make her feel a bit better.

Luc decided to change the subject and asked her about how her drug treatment had gone. She told him that the treatment program had been very tough, all of the sickness from coming off the drugs had masked the fact that she was pregnant with Lucas. She hadn't found out that she was pregnant until she was over 6 months pregnant when she had collapsed in the street in London one afternoon. She had been brought to hospital for some tests after her collapse and they had told her then. She explained how her friend from nursing college Lucy who she was staying with at the time had laughed at her for not realising she was pregnant. Lucy had been really good to her and had been there with her for Lucas' birth. However, she hadnt been able to stay with Lucy after Lucas came along because Lucy's place was too small so she gotten a bedsit down the road from Lucy's place. She still had the bedsit now, some of her stuff was still there. Luc asked if she wanted to go to London the following day to get her clothes and things as he wasnt working. They decided to head down in the campervan the next day.

Luc noticed that Eddie was looking sleepy at this stage. "I suppose we'd better go to bed, its almost one and Lucas will be awake at around 4 for a feed and a nappy change. You take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch" he said. "No, I cant take your bed, you've been working all day, you're exhausted" she insisted. "Eddie, please take the bed" he asserted. "Ok, how about a compromise, we'll both sleep in the bed" she said. "ok, no funny business, scout's honour!" Luc smiled. "Dont lie, you were never in the scouts" she joked. They got into bed together but were so exhausted that they both fell asleep almost immediately. A few hours later Luc was woken by Eddie screaming in her sleep, she was having a nightmare and had tears streaming down her face. "Eddie, Eddie, wake up, you're having a nightmare!" he said gently. She woke up but was still crying. "I dreamt that someone was taking Lucas away from me and i couldn't stop them and no matter how fast i ran after them i couldnt catch them" she cried. Luc pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. "That's not going to happen, I promise " he assured her. He was still holding on to her tight a few minutes later when Lucas started crying. "Sorry sweetheart, i'll have to go sort out the little one, are you ok for a few minutes" he said. "Yes, I'll be ok" she replied. Luc went off to Lucas and changed his nappy and put his bottle on to heat up. He brought Lucas in to Eddie in the bed. "Here, you stay with mummy while i get your bottle ready" he said to Lucas while handing him to Eddie. Lucas pulled a funny face at Eddie causing her to laugh out loud. "Who's a funny baby!" she exclaimed. With that Luc came back in. "what are you laughing at?" he asked Eddie. "Lucas pulled that face you do when you've no idea what's going on around you, he's definately your son alright!" she exclaimed. "We're a pair of comedians us two!" joked Luc. He got under the bed covers but sat up in the bed so that he could take Lucas off Eddie to feed him. Eddie, who had been sitting up moved over beside him lying her head against Luc's shoulder while holding Lucas' hand. Lucas was propped up against Luc's knees facing toward them both enjoying his bottle. Luc kissed Eddie on the forehead. "What was that for?" she asked. "I dont know, it just felt like the right thing to do" he answered.  
Secretly he wished that they could stay like this forever.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much for the lovely reviews. Here's another bit...

Chapter 5:

About an hour later Luc put Lucas back in his cot as we was fast aspleep. He got back into bed ready to go back to sleep. Eddie turned onto her side in the bed facing him. She touched his cheek and said "Luc Hemingway, you are the most amazing man!". "I'm not sure that's true. When i first came to Holby i was so cold and alone, wrapped up in my own world not wanting anything or anyone to get close to me. You're the one who saved me. You showed me what its like to let people in." he replied with tears in his eyes. "I wouldn't say i saved you" she protested "Look at all the hurt i put you through" she went on. "Eddie, i know we put each other through alot of pain but i think we needed to do that to prove to each other how much we need each other. Please tell me that you wont leave me ever again" he implored. "I dont think i could handle losing you and Lucas again. I love you both so much. Its the first time in my life that i genuinely feel happy and loved. Please dont take that away from me" he cried. "Luc, sweetheart of course i wont leave you! I promise to try never to hurt you again. As long as you are 100 percent sure this is what you want. I'm not the easiest person to live with you know" she replied. " I dont think either of us are but i think that's what makes us perfect for each other, we compliment each other in an odd kind of way. I shudder to think where i would be right now if you hadnt brought me that coffee in the lab the day Roy passed away, that was the first time I realised how much you cared about me." he said. "I think that was the first time i realised that you were such a kind man. The way Roy talked about you made me realise that there was more to you than i thought. I'm glad i took the time to find that side of you now." she said as she kissed him tenderly on the lips. "Luc, I love you" she said and kissed him again. They made love to each other for the first time in 12 months. The love they shared that night melting away all the pain, hurt and sadness of the past 12 months.

chapter 6:  
They were woken the next morning by Lucas crying for his next feed. Luc kissed Eddie passionately on the lips before jumping out of bed, getting dressed and going to get Lucas from his cot. He brought him into the kitchen after changing his nappy. He stood at the counter waiting for the baby milk to heat up and bounced Lucas up and down in his arms. Eddie came into the kitchen, wrapped her arms around Luc and kissed them both. "How are my two gorgeous men this morning?" she asked. "Perfect" Luc smiled before kissing her back. "Do you still want to go down to London to clear out your place?" he asked. "Yes, well I need some clothes and there's no point in me paying rent there when I'll be living here with you two" she replied. Luc grinned manically at this. "Do you hear that Lucas? Mummy is going to be living with us from now on. Wont that be fun!" he exclaimed. Eddie gave Luc a playful slap. "Dont be cheeky or I'll change my mind!" she joked. Luc pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. He then proceeded to give Lucas his bottle while Eddie made breakfast.

They decided to leave Lucas in the creche for a few hours instead of bringing him all the way to London with them as there wasn't really anywhere to strap his car seat in the campervan with the 2 of them sitting in the front seats. They though it would be safer and wouldnt take as long clear out the bedsit without him there to look after. They got to the bedsit and started packing up Eddie's belongings. Unfortunately, they ran into Eddie's landlord who was a sleazy guy. "I'll be sorry to see her go, I was hoping to get a bit of action there" he said to Luc as he was bringing out some of Eddie's bags. Luc tried to ignore him. "She was so drunk some nights coming back that i could have had my leg over and she wouldn't have even noticed" the landlord sneered. Luc got angry at this comment and was about to grab the landlord when Eddie stepped in. "Luc, stop it. He's not worth it!" she cried. They grabbed the last of Eddie's belongings and got out of there as quickly as possible.

They stopped off at a motorway service station on the way back to Holby for some food. Luc had been very quiet ever since they had left the bedsit. "Are you still annoyed about what the landlord said?" she asked. She grabbed Luc's hand. "Luc, that was the old unhappy me, the one who was heartbroken about abandoning her son. But that me is gone now, I promise!" she said. "I promise you here and now that I will get help for my drinking" she said. "I am determined not to end up like my mother. I dont want Lucas to have a childhood like mine, I swear" she promised with tears in her eyes. Luc looked her straight in the eyes and said "I know, I believe you and I'll support you all the way. It was just hard to hear him talk about someone I love so much like that". They kissed each other passionately. The drove back out onto the motorway heading for Holby. Back to collect their son and start their new life together as a proper family. 


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks so much for the lovely reviews. Here's a bit more...

Chapter 7:

It had been about a month since Eddie had returned. Her and Luc and Lucas were enjoying being a family, looking after each other and having fun together. Eddie hadn't returned to work when her leg had gotten better opting instead to look after Lucas for a while. She wanted to make up for lost time as she called it. Lucas was growing into a sturdy little boy, the spitting image of his father everyone said, but with Eddie's fiesty spirit already starting to show. Luc was working the early shift that day, fininshing up work at about 4 in the afternoon. He couldn't wait to get home to see Lucas and Eddie as they had both been asleep that morning when he had left for work. He was changing out of his scrubs and into his clothes in the locker room when his phone beeped. He had received a text message from Eddie it read "Meet us on the roof. E xx".

Strange he thought to himself as he climbed the stairs to the roof. He walked out onto the roof to see Eddie standing there with Lucas in her arms. He walked over to them. "Hi you two, what are you doing up here?" he said before giving them both a kiss on the cheek.

"I wanted to show Lucas where we first met" replied Eddie.

"Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago now doesn't it?" he said.

"Yes, so much has changed since then" replied Eddie with a far off look in her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Luc.

"Luc, I dont want to stay in Holby. There's just too many bad memories for me here with the drugs business and Max and all that" she said sadly.

"But what about all the good things that have happened here? Are you saying you want to leave me again?" Luc was getting anxious, his heart started to sink.

Eddie turned to him placing her hand on his chest. "No sweetheart, I dont want to leave you. The opposite in fact. I want us to leave here as a family. Luc, will you marry me?" she begged.

Luc was shocked, he wasn't expecting this. "Yes, of course I'll marry you, but isnt it supposed to be the man who asks the woman?" he said with a smirk before planting a kiss on her lips.

"You know I dont like being conventional" replied Eddie with a smile.

"You've managed to ruin my plan though" replied Luc taking a small black box out of his coat pocket. "I'd been waiting for the right time to give you this" he said opening up the box. Inside was a silver ring with a small pink heart shaped stone on top.

"Wow, that's beautiful" said Eddie with tears in her eyes as Luc put the ring on her engagement finger.

"I'm glad you like it. The stone is an Argentinian heartstone, it's from a pendant that once belonged to my mother. It was very special to her. I though it would make a beautiful ring so I had it made into one especially for you" he replied.

"It fits perfectly!" exclaimed Eddie as she grabbed Luc with her one free hand and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. Lucas giggled with excitement.

"So where do you want to go?" asked Luc while taking Lucas from Eddie and giving him a cuddle.

"Well, I've been speaking to Liam. He said that the news of becoming a grandmother has prompted mum to try to give up alcohol and get herself sorted out, apparently she's been sober for a few weeks now. I'd like to move somewhere near her so she can get to know Lucas and we can support her" explained Eddie.

"I'll have to work out my notice here and look for another job near Leeds, but I'm sure we can manage that" replied Luc with a smile. "Do you want to get married here or in Leeds?" he continued.

"I think maybe Leeds, isnt it traditional to get married in the bride's home town?" asked Eddie.

"ok, so now you want to be traditional all of a sudden!" joked Luc. Eddie gave him a playful slap on the bum.

"Come on my beloved husband-to-be, it's getting cold up here. Lets go home" she replied with a smile while pulling Luc by the hand towards the roof door. They bumbed into Chrissie on the way out of the hospital. She asked why they were both so happy with themselves, unfortunately Luc blurted out that they were engaged. Needless to say word of their engagement was all around the hospital about half an hour later.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's a little more...

Chapter 8:

It was few weeks later and Luc had handed in his notice after getting a job in a hospital just outside of Leeds where he would have a similar job to his job in Holby and could continue his research work. He was to start his new job in mid-January. After looking at the guest list for the wedding, Luc and Eddie had decided to get married in Holby instead of Leeds as there were more guests from Holby going to be at the wedding and so it could double as their leaving party too. They were able to arrange the wedding for New Year's day, when a lot of their guests would be on holiday from work anyway. They had been busy preparing for the wedding and for their first Christmas together too.

Eddie had been out for dinner with Frieda to catch up with her and to ask her to be her matron-of-honour at her wedding. It was around midnight when she put the key in her front door opening it gently as she guessed that Luc and Lucas would be asleep. She entered the hall and walked into Lucas' room to check on him but he wasn't in his cot. She then went into the sitting room where the television was on with the sound turned down. She spotted Luc asleep on the couch with Lucas lying on top of him asleep too. There was a book of nursery stories on the floor beside them. She assumed that they must have fallen asleep while reading the stories. She stood and looked at them for a few minutes, reflecting on how lucky she was. She had a husband-to-be who adored her and a beautiful son whom she adored. How her life had changed in the past 12 months she thought. She picked up Lucas gently and brought him into his room and laid him down in his cot. Phew! he didnt wake up she thought to herself. She went back into the sitting room and turned off the television.

"Hey, i was watching that!" cried a groggy-sounding Luc.

"No you weren't, you were fast asleep and drooling too!" joked Eddie.

"I wasnt drooling" replied Luc indignantly. "Where's Lucas?" asked a confused Luc as he couldn't remember putting him to bed.

"He's in his cot, I just put him there" she replied while sitting down on the couch beside Luc.

She wiped Luc's mouth and then gave him a kiss. She then showed him her moist hand and said "So you weren't drooling then were you not?" teasing him. Luc grabbed her and started trying to tickle her playfully but she was fighting him off.

"Stop, please dont tickle me, I dont feel too good" she pleaded.

Luc stopped what he was doing. "Why, what's wrong?" he asked while putting his hand on her forehead to check if she had a temperature. "I'm just feeling a bit nauseous, maybe I ate too much at dinner" she replied.

"Well, you dont have a temperature and your glands dont seem to be swollen so i dont think it's anything serious" replied Luc.

"Oh, thank you doctor Hemingway for that diagnosis!" she joked.

"How was Frieda?" asked Luc.

"She was in good form. She's really enjoying working for that homeless charity. She was highly amused that I wanted her to be my matron-of-honour at the wedding and was threatening to come to the wedding all dressed in black with a veil over her head like she was in mourning!" replied Eddie. "She wanted to mourn the death of my single life she said" Edddie continued.  
"Now that I would like to see! All of the guests would definately remember our wedding for years after if she did that" replied Luc laughing.

"Dont worry, I talked her out of it" replied Eddie giving Luc a lingering kiss.

"You didnt drink tonight?" he asked as he couldn't taste any alcohol on her breath when they kissed.

"No, Frieda ordered a bottle of wine for us but the smell of alcohol just made me feel sick. She ended up drinking it all herself. She was pretty merry when I put her in a taxi" she replied.

He put his hand on her forehead again. "Are you sure you're not coming down with something? It's not like you to turn down a glass of wine" he asked playfully.

Eddie grabbed his hand and pulled him up off the couch after getting up herself. "Come on, its past our bedtime" she said and guided Luc into their bedroom by the hand. Later as she was brushing her teeth in the bathroom Eddie experienced a wave of nausea again. She began to worry she had gotten a stomach bug or something but the feeling soon passed. She went to take her pill before getting into bed and a scary though crossed her mind. No, I can't be pregnant again, can I? she thought to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi there, I hope some of you out there are still enjoying this. Here's a bit more...

Chapter 9:  
The following day Luc arrived home from work about 5 O'clock. The took off his coat and hung it in the hall. He could hear Lucas talking to himself in his bedroom. He went into the bedroom to find Lucas in his cot having a full blown conversation with his teddy bear in baby talk. Lucas smiled when he saw Luc and put out his arms asking to be picked up. "How's my little man today?" asked Luc while picking him up and giving Lucas a kiss on the cheek. Lucas just smiled back. "Let go find mummy" said Luc. Lucas replied "ahahah" and put his hands out towards his cot. "Oh, you want to bring teddy too do you?" asked Luc. Luc picked up teddy and gave him to Lucas.

Luc walked into the bedroom, kitchen and sitting room but there was no sign of Eddie. "Where's mummy?" he asked Lucas. He stood in the hallway for a minute and could hear sobbing coming from the bathroom. He knocked on the door. "Eddie sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked.  
"Its open" she replied in a low voice. He opened the door to find Eddie sitting on the bathroom floor leaning against the bath with her knees up to her chest.  
"Are you sick? he asked.  
"Kinda, I was vomiting this morning" she replied. Luc walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the bath. There were still tears flowing down Eddie's face. Luc sat down onto the floor bending his legs out in front of him and put Lucas sitting down between his legs on the floor. He could tell there was something wrong but couldn't think of what it could be. "Why are you crying? what's wrong?" he asked.

Eddie picked up a pregnancy test that was lying on the floor beside her and put it down in front of Luc. It was positive.

"Wow" replied Luc in shock. He took a few minutes to take it in.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault" Eddie sobbed.

"Oh sweetheart, of course its not. It takes two to tango!" he replied. He moved himself around on the floor so that he was sitting next to Eddie and put his arm around her pulling her to him. He kissed her on the forehead.

"Lucas isnt even six months old yet" she cried.

"Hush, it's ok. I know we didnt discuss it but we didnt want Lucas to be an only child did we?" he asked. "I know I didn't. Being an only child is a very lonely existance, take it from me. I would have loved to have had a brother or sister growing up" he continued.

"Really? You're not mad about this" she asked surprised.

"No sweetie, no. Just a bit surprised that's all" he assured her. Eddie started to cry again.  
"Hey, what's wrong now?" he asked.

"Its just that I was looking forward to going back to nursing part-time when we get to Leeds. I guess I wont be able to do that now" she replied.

"What's stopping you? They have a job waiting for you dont they. So what if you'll only be able to do it for 6 or 7 months until you take maternity leave" he replied. "They'll be lucky to have you for that time" he continued.

"ok, I guess you're right" she replied. Eddie was starting to feel better about their situation.

After a few minutes she asked "How are we going to manage two babies under 2 years old?"

"We'll be ok, loads of other people do it dont they? Besides, we'll have your mother and Liam nearby to help. Hopefully, the new baby will be as good a child as Lucas is" replied Luc.

Just as he said this Lucas threw his teddy bear at Eddie who caught it just before it hit her on the face. They all laughed. "Look, Lucas gave you his teddy to cuddle because you're upset. Isn't that sweet?" Luc said smiling.

Eddie gave teddy a big cuddle and handed it back to Lucas. "Thank you Lucas" she said. Lucas replied by giving her a big smile and clapping his hands.

"You know what, sometimes I think Lucas understands more of what's going on around him that I do!" exclaimed Luc.

"That's good situational awareness, he gets that from me" Eddie joked.

"Ah yes, but he gets his good looks from me" beamed Luc.

Eddie gave Luc a playful slap on the arm. "And from me, smartypants!" she exclaimed.

Eddie stood up and picked up Lucas. "Come on, lets get some dinner" she said while holding out her hand to Luc to help him up off the floor. She handed Lucas to Luc when he was upright.

"Can you take him? I need to wash up" she asked.

"Sure" replied Luc. "Come on Lucas, lets get dinner started" he continued. He walked out of the bathroom. Eddie washed her hands and face and dried them. She stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. She patted her stomach and smiled. What a lucky woman I am, she though to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi, i hope you are still enjoying this and i'm not boring you! E xx. Thank you sickhed for spotting my mistake. Have recified it for you.

Chapter 10:

It was Christmas Eve in the McKee-Hemingway household and the Christmas and wedding day preparations were in full swing. Eddie had all of the wedding plans sorted out thanks to the help of Chantelle and Frieda who had proven to have fantastic organizational skills between them. Frieda was the hard-nosed business woman and Chantelle had looked after all the fluffy stuff as Frieda had called it. All that was left for Eddie to do was pick what she wanted from the options the girls had given her. Luc had left all the preparations to Eddie, the trusted her judgement he said.

Eddie's mum Jane and brother Liam were due to arrive any minute to spend Christmas with Luc, Eddie and Lucas and to attend the wedding too. Luc had encouraged Eddie to talk to her mum Jane on the phone a number of times since she had returned to Holby and they had started to get on better but today would be the first time they would see each other face-to-face since Eddie had left Leeds for London all those months ago. Eddie's nerves were not being helped by the fact that she was still experiencing morning sickness from being pregnant again.

Eddie was in the kitchen feeding Lucas his lunch. He was now starting to eat solid food and was having far too much fun playing with his food to actually eat any of it. "Lucas, can you please stop messing and eat your lunch" she pleaded. She tried the pretending the spoon was an airplane trick but Lucas wasnt falling for it.

"Oh, come on, please Lucas, please eat. I want to get the place tidied up before your grandmother and uncle get here and you're not helping" she cried exasperated. Lucas replied by smiling at her and then sticking his tongue out at her.

"Luc, can you come feed this son of yours? He wont eat his lunch" she cried. Luc came into the kitchen from the bedroom.

"What's wrong? I was just moving Lucas' cot into our bedroom so that your mum can sleep in the bed in Lucas' room." he explained.

"Lucas would rather play with his food than eat it. Maybe he'll eat it if you feed him. He's in a very spirited mood today and doesnt want to do anything for me" she replied.

"I wonder where he gets that from?" joked Luc.

Eddie replied by giving Luc a look that could kill causing Luc to regret he'd ever said anything. He walked over to Eddie and put his arms around her, kissing her neck. She relaxed a little bit, enjoying the moment. However, her moment was spoiled when Lucas picked that exact instant to throw a spoonful of dinner at Eddie hitting her on the face.

"Lucas!" Eddie and Luc shouted in unison.  
Luc and Eddie separated, Eddie walked over to the sink to clean herself off. Luc took Lucas' bowl of food off him. "That was bold, naughty Lucas!" he scolded.

He proceeded to try to feed Lucas more of his lunch, luckily this time Lucas started to cooperate.

Luc noticed that Eddie was staring out the kitchen window, her mind a million miles away.  
"A penny for your thoughts" he said to her.

"What? Oh, I was just thinking about how long its been since me and mum and Liam were all together for Christmas. I can't figure out why I'm so nervous about them coming" she replied.

"It's natural to be nervous, you haven't seen your mum in a long time. I have to admit I'm nervous about them coming too. What if she doesnt like me?" he asked.

"Of course she'll like you. Who wouldn't?" replied Eddie as she walked over to Luc. She put her arms around him squeezing him tight.

"You're just biased!" he exclaimed. He turned around to Eddie giving her a kiss on the lips followed by a big smile.

"I think the little man has eaten all he's going to of his lunch. I'll clean him up and put him in his playpen for a while" he replied. "Is everything ready for our guests?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so. Is the campervan all sorted for Liam to stay in?" she asked.

"Yes, I tidied it up yesterday. I'm surprised Liam volunteered to sleep in it" replied Luc.

"I'm not. He probably wants some privacy to bring girls back if he meets any while he's here" replied Eddie.

"Yes, because its such a babe-magnet my campervan!" joked Luc.

"Hey, it worked on me didnt it?" laughed Eddie winking at Luc.

"Yes, I suppose we have its aphrodisiac charms to thank for this little man being here" Luc said as he picked up Lucas out of his high-chair.

"Dont say things like that! Can you imagine a mini-Liam running about the place?" exclaimed Eddie shuddering. And with that the doorbell rang.


	8. Chapter 8

Glad to see so many of you are still enjoying this. Here's a bit more.

Chapter 11:

Luc and Eddie were still laughing about Liam and the campervan when Luc went to answer the door. He opened the door and came face-to-face with none other than Liam and started laughing again.

"What's so funny?" asked Liam.

"Sorry, nothing" Luc replied with a grin. "Hello Liam. Nice to see you" continued Luc in a more serious tone. "Come on in" said Luc. Liam entered the flat closely followed by his mum. "Hello Mrs KcKee" said Luc as he directed them into the sitting room. "Liam, you can put the bags in Lucas' room for now, its the first one on the left. Your mum will be sleeping in there and we'll sort out your bags later" continued Luc.

Eddie came out of the kitchen and greeted her mother with a nervous hug. "Hi Mum, how are you? How was the journey down?" she asked. However, Jane wasnt really listening but was saying hello to Lucas who was in Luc's arms. Lucas was pretending to be shy and was turning his head into Luc's chest trying to hide his face.

"Say hello to your grandma Lucas" encouraged Luc. "I'm afraid he makes strange with people when he first meets them but he soon warms up to you" explained Luc to Jane.

"Oh, isnt he gorgeous and so big now. He looks so much more grown up than the pictures you sent us" Jane replied.

"Yes, he's getting big and bold alright" joked Luc.

Eddie tried again. "How are you mum? How was the journey down?" she repeated.

"I'm fine thanks luv, just a bit tired from all the travelling. The motorway was very busy, everyone going home for Christmas I guess" she replied.

"Sit down and we'll make you some tea. Would you like something to eat?" Eddie asked.

"I'd kill for a cuppa and a sandwich. And by the way hello sis" said Liam as he entered the sitting room.

"Hello Liam. And you mum?" asked Eddie.

"Yes, tea and sandwiches would be great" replied Jane.

"Tea and sandwiches all round then" replied Eddie as she headed for the kitchen.

"Its nice to finally meet you Luc. I've heard so much about you" said Jane.

"Nice to meet you too" replied Luc. By this time Lucas was starting to get over his shyness and was starting to play with Liam who was making faces at him and trying to tickle him.  
"Do you want to take him Liam? I think Eddie might need some help in the kitchen" Luc asked. Liam took Lucas off Luc and sat down beside his mum on the couch. They both started playing with Lucas.

Luc entered the kitchen where Eddie was busy buttering bread. "How can I help?" he asked. Eddie didn't reply. Luc went over to her and put his arms around her. "What's up?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, its stupid" she replied.

"What is?" he asked.

"I just didnt like the way mum ignored me just now" she replied annoyed.

"I'm sure she didnt mean it, she was just distracted by meeting Lucas for the first time that's all" Luc assured her.

"I guess you're right. It's these pregnancy hormones, they're making me oversensitive and I dont like it" she replied. Luc cuddled up to her tighter and kissed her on the neck.

"I know the hormones are driving you mad but they dont half make you look even more gorgeous than usual" crooned Luc before kissing her on the neck again.

Eddie smiled. "I thought you came in here to help. Put the kettle on and start getting the cups and plates out" Eddie ordered.

"Aye aye captain" said Luc before giving her one final kiss.

Chapter 12:

They all enjoyed lunch together. Eddie and Luc filled them in on all of the arrangements for the wedding and about how they had found a house to rent in Leeds for when they moved up there after the wedding. Jane and Liam were happy to find out that the house was only a few street away from them so they would be able to call around regularly. Lucas had taken a shine to his grandma and soon cuddling up to her and laughing at the funny faces she was pulling.

It was starting to get dark when Luc suggested that he bring Liam out to the campervan so that he could show him where everything was and so that Liam could leave out his bags. Luc opened the door to the campervan and handed the keys to Liam. He showed Liam how to use the lights and cooker.

"Are you sure you'll be alright sleeping in here?" Luc asked.

"Yeah sure. At least I'll be able to have a lie-in and wont be woken up by a crying baby" replied Liam.

"Lucas doesnt cry that much anymore. He's quite a good baby in that respect now" replied Luc.

"Yeah, he seems like a quiet child. Takes after me I guess" replied Liam. Luc just grinned at this. He decided to change the subject.

"How's your probation working out?" he asked.

"It's fine. They've encouraged me to go back and finish my schooling. I'm going to be sitting some GCSEs next year" Liam explained.

"What are you going to study?" asked Luc.

"I was thinking about biology, maths and english. I have been thinking about becoming an ambulanceman when I finish my exams. Go into the family business as it were" replied Liam.

"That's brilliant. I know Eddie and I would be very proud of you if you did that and we'd support you all the way with any help you need with your courses. You'd make a great ambulanceman" replied Luc.

"Yes, well as long as mum stays on the straight and narrow and doesnt mess things up for me like she has done before" replied Liam.

"She seems to be really trying hard to straighten herself out from what Eddie tells me. I know Eddie is still worried about her but at least you'll have us around for support from now on" replied Luc.

"Yeah but how long will that last once you find out what mum's really like. What's to stop you and Eddie just upping sticks and running off?" asked Liam.

"Liam, we're not planning on going anywhere. Moving to Leeds is going to be our final move. Besides, its not going to be that easy for us to move when we have a couple of kids in tow is it?" asked Luc. "Liam, we're in it for the long haul. I have no intention of ever leaving your sister or our children and I'm not going to let Eddie run out on you or her mother either. From next week you'll all be my family for better or worse" continued Luc in a heartfelt tone.

"I wish I could believe that" replied Liam.

"Believe it. Trust me" replied Luc.

Liam thought about this for a while. "Ok, I believe you. But dont you let me down" he replied.

"I don't intend to" replied Luc.

"Boy, you are a glutton for punishment, taking on the mad McKees like this. You must really love my sister" Liam said.

"With every atom of my heart. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me" replied Luc slightly embarassed.

Liam and Luc left the campervan to go back into the flat. "Now, what's that you were saying about children. Have you and Eddie got something to tell us?" Liam asked.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for the delay in writing. It's been a mad week. In the middle of buying my first house, major stress! Hope it was worth the wait...

Chapter 13:

Luc and Liam returned to the flat after their chat in the campervan with Liam feeling a bit better about the situation with his mother. Luc had to admit to Eddie that he sort of let slip to Liam about the new baby. Eddie wasnt too happy with this as she was only 2 months pregnant but they decided that they should tell Liam and her mum about the baby but ask them to keep it to themselves for now. Jane was suprised by the news and voiced her concerns to Eddie about the timing of the new baby but told her she would try to help them as much as she could. She admitted to Eddie and Liam that she hadnt been a mother to them at all since their dad had left but promised to be a better mother and grandmother from now on. She asked for their forgiveness for what she had done in the past. She explained to them how she had found religion and with God's help she would be a better person from now on. She asked them if they would accompany her to church on Christmas day. Liam and Eddie said that they would go but Eddie wasnt sure about Luc. She'd have to talk to him about it. Luc had been getting Lucas ready for bed when this coversation took place.

Eddie went into her bedroom to talk to Luc about it. He was just finishing dressing Lucas for bed.

"Hey sweetie, I need to talk to you about something" she said.

"What's up?" replied Luc.

"Mum has asked if we will all go to the Christmas service in the local church with her tomorrow morning. Its very important to her" she explained.

"Eddie, I'm sorry, I dont know if I can. I mean I dont believe in all that stuff, I wasn't brought up with it you see. My mother didnt believe in it so she didnt encourage me to get involved in it" he explained. "I have no problem with it if you want to go and bring Lucas with you" he continued.

"Ok, I'm not sure what mum is going to say, she'll be disappointed" replied Eddie.

"It's ok, I'll explain it to her. I'm sure she will understand that some people just aren't religious and she'll be ok about it" he replied.  
"Ok" replied Eddie.

"Besides, it will give me a chance to get the Christmas dinner started without you lot under my feet" he replied with a cheeky smile.

"So you're doing all the cooking are you?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, if we were relying on you we would be having burnt toast for Christmas dinner!" he exclaimed.

Eddie gave Luc a playful slap on the arm. "My cooking's not that bad" she retorted.

"What's mummy's cooking like?" Luc asked Lucas. Lucas replied by sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry.

"Thanks very much both of you!" exclaimed Eddie.

Luc picked up Lucas off the bed and turned to Eddie. They both had apologetic looks on their faces. "We love you to bits despite your dodgy cooking skills, dont we Lucas?" Luc assured her while Lucas smiled and clapped. Luc pulled her close with his one free arm and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He then moved Lucas over to her so he could give her a kiss too. "Give mummy a kiss" he encoraged Lucas. Lucas gave her a big sloppy kiss on the mouth.

"Ah, thanks you guys" she replied smiling. "Come on, its time for bed Lucas or santa wont come" she continued. They put Lucas to bed and he was soon asleep. The excitement of meeting his grandmother and Liam had taken its toll on him.

Luc later spoke to Jane about church and she said she understood. She was quite impressed that he was going to cook the whole christmas dinner by himself. He explained to her how he had always loved cooking and had learned how to do it at an early age. They all went to bed early that night as it had been a tiring day and they had another big day to look forward to the following day.

Chapter 14:

Luc and Eddie were woken the following morning by Lucas at about 7 am. He was hungry and needed a nappy change. Eddie gave him his bottle and then brought him back to bed with them for another while. They all got up around 8 am so that they could all get breakfast and get ready for church. Luc had the dinner on when they all got back from church. They decided to open the presents then. Eddie's mum gave her a set of cosy pyjamas while Liam gave her a Leeds united football club scarf so that she could be patriotic to her home town he said. Luc got a warm winter hoodie from Jane and a book on Yorkshire sayings and traditions from Liam who thought it might come in handy when he started treating the locals. Lucas got a talking Thomas the tank engine train from santa, a leeds united top from Liam, and a brown duffle coat from his grandma. Eddie and Luc laughed when they saw the coat as it was an exact replica of Luc's coat and they would look like twins if the both wore them at the same time. Jane insisted that they both model the coats and they took pictures of Luc and Lucas as "twins" for the family photo album.

Luc and Eddie gave Liam a set of tickets to see his favourite band play in Leeds. They gave Jane a new coat that Eddie had picked out for her and Lucas gave her a scarf to match her new coat. She loved the coat and scarf and remarked how Lucas had great taste in scarves for a 6 month old.

Eddie gave Luc as box set of "The prisoner" on dvd which she had eventually managed to find on the internet on a rare books and dvd website. He loved it.

Luc gave Eddie a beautiful antique globe of the world with an IOU attached promising to bring her on a round the world trip one day. He explained to Jane and Liam how Eddie has this habit of asking him where an exotic country was when she heard it mentioned on tv. Now she could look them up, he quipped.

They all settle down for a wonderful Christmas dinner. They spent the afternoon watching the Queen's speech, watching films and dozing on the couch as Lucas played with the discarded wrapping paper and the toy boxes ignoring the toys he had received.

Chapter 15:

That night Luc was sitting up in bed reading the book that Liam had got him while Eddie got ready for bed. She had the new pyjamas that her mum got her on. She stopped at Lucas' cot to tuck him in and give him a kiss goodnight. He was fast asleep. "I think he enjoyed his first Christmas day" she said to Luc.

"What? Oh, yes I think he did. Hopefully with many more good ones to come. I'll be better next year when he understands more of what is going on" replied Luc. Eddie got into bed and cuddled up to Luc. He put a bookmark in his book and put it down on the locker. He moved down in the bed and put his arms around her.

"Dinner was amazing, where did you learn to cook like that?" she asked.

"Well, after my mother passed away when I was 10 I went to live with her mother, Grandma Betty. She was an amazing woman. She ran the family farm after grandad died with the help of some farmhands. All the locals loved her as she was such a friendly, kind and loving woman and always looked after her staff very well. She was a fabulous cook, the locals loved helping her with the harvests because she fed them so well. She soon realised that I wasn't cut out for physical work around the farm so she encouraged me with my schooling. She used to get me to help out with the cooking instead so I learned from watching her. Christmas day was always a big day in her house, she'd invite all her neighbours and friends for dinner and I'd help her with the cooking. They were some of the happiest days of my life until now" he said with tears in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, she passed away when I was 15 so with noone else to look after me I was put into a chidren's home. The Christmases there were full of false merriment and were just awful, that's why I gave up celebrating it, I just didnt see the point" he continued.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry to upset you" Eddie replied.

"No, its ok. Its about time I shared all this with you. You're going to be my wife from next week, you should know all about my past" he assured her.

"What happened to the farm?" she asked.

"Grandma Betty left it to me in her will with strict instructions that I was to sell it to her neighbour farmer Johnson who had always wanted to buy it from her. She said that I had to use the money for my education, which I did. There's still a little bit left, enough for a deposit on a house when we want to buy one." he replied.

"It looks like we have a lot to thank Grandma Betty for then" replied Eddie. "Thank you for sharing all of that with me, I know that was hard for you" she continued. Eddie cuddled up to Luc tight and kissed him on the cheek. He put his hand on her neck and kissed her passionately.

"Thank you for making my Christmases happy again" he said when they had finished kissing. Eddie rolled over on top of Luc and put her legs down each side of his chest, sitting up on top of him straddling him.

"I've got another Christmas present for you" she whispered seductively.

"Unwrap me!" she demanded. Luc unbuttoned her pyjamas top to reveal lingerie underneath.

"I was wondering why it took you so long to get ready for bed" he replied with a smirk. They both giggled.

"Sush, we'll have to be quiet or we'll wake Lucas" said Luc.

"Dont worry, he's out for the count" Eddie replied before kissing Luc passionately and removing his t-shirt.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry peeps, I know some of that last chapter wasnt my best work, will try to do better. Hope you are still enjoying this. E ;) xx.

Chapter 16:

The next few days leading up to the wedding were a hive of activity, clothes being collected from shops, the final touches being made to the seating at the reception, and all of the other million little jobs that go into making one big occasion. Luc began to wonder what all the fuss was about, its only a small wedding he kept telling people. Eddie kept having to remind him that small weddings have all of the same parts as a big wedding but still have the same amount of parts all the same. Lucas looked on in awe at all the frenzied activities that were going on and you knew by the look on his face that he was glad he wasnt able to walk and talk as otherwise we would have gotten a job to do. As it was he was going to be bringing up the rings at the start of the ceremony with Sasha the best man.

The hen night and stag night had been the night before this so some of the people involved were suffering from hangovers today and didn't appreciate a sober Eddie barking orders at them. Not surprisingly, the bride and groom were the most sober of the lot as Eddie couldnt drink as she was pregnant and Luc just didnt drink anyway. Chantelle and Liam made up for the fact that the bride and groom didnt drink and were suffering for it today. Finally, at about 8 pm on the eve of the wedding all of the preparations were done, there was nothing more to do today. Luc and Eddie left the reception hall with Jane and Liam and returned to their flat. Luc was only going back to collect his bags for the wedding day as he was going over to stay with Sacha and Chrissie the night before the wedding as tradition and Jane had dictated. He was in the bedroom with Eddie packing his bags for the wedding day.

"Remember to bring some spare socks, your ties, and the rings" encouraged Eddie.

"You're loving this aren't you?" replied Luc.

"Whatever do you mean?" replied Eddie.

"I can see that glint in your eye you used to have when we worked together on AAU and we were manic busy. Being manic busy is you favourite sate to be in isn't it?" he replied laughing. "It's a good job I like my women bossy or we'd never be getting married tomorrow" he continued with a smirk.

"Oi, I am Not bossy! Take that back!" she exclaimed coming towards Luc ready for a fight.

"Oh, yes you are but you're my bossy woman!" exclaimed Luc while pulling her towards him and kissing her passionately. They soon pulled away from each other slightly and stood there arms wrapped around each other gazing into one another's eyes. A doubt crept into Eddie's mind. "Are you sure you want to marry me tomorrow? We can just go on as we are you know, I dont mind" she said.

"Eddie, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I want to be able to call you my wife. It's about time I grew up and became committed to someone and something instead of dodging any sort of commitment like I have done in the past. Unfortunately, from tomorrow you'll be stuck with me" he continued with a smirk.

"Are you sure? I mean, most people who have met me would probably think that anyone who wants to marry me should be committed alright, committed to an insane asylum!" she exclaimed.

"Funny, people say that about me too!" exclaimed Luc with a big grin. "I guess that means we're meant to be. Just call us Mr and Mrs Adams, dum-da-da-dum, click click" he continued laughing.

Eddie giggled. "My husband-to-be is insane. I wonder how long after the wedding I have to wait to have him committed?" she asked. Luc pulled her close again and gave her a lingering kiss. "I guess its time for me to leave, I'm all packed for tomorrow. The next time we are together it will be for the ceremony. Will you be ok?" he asked seriously.

"I guess I can survive without you until about 3pm tomorrow afternoon" she replied sadly. "One last kiss as my boyfriend?" she asked. They had one long last lingering kiss as boyfriend and girlfriend. Luc went over to Lucas who was in his cot. "Goodnight, my little man, see you tomorrow" he said and kissed him on the forehead. He grabbed Eddie's hand on the way out of the room with his bag and squeezed her fingers. "See you tomorrow. I love you" he said before walking out the door.

Eddie collapsed onto the bed, tears of joy, relief, and sadness mixed together pouring down her face. Why did she still think when he left that he might not come back?

Chapter 17:

It was the wedding day and just after 1.30pm in the afternoon when Luc left Sacha and Chrissie's house to head for the hospital. All of the excitement and noise in the house had become too much for him. Luc had decided to head to his lab in the hospital to check on the last of his experiments before the wedding and to give his head a rest. The closer he got to the hospital, the more people stopped him to congratulate him and wish him good luck. The Holby City grapevine really was strong and powerful he thought to himself. The more good wishes he got the more anxious he felt. Finally, he got to his lab and was able to check on his expriments but the anxiety stayed with him. When he was finished with the experiments, he decided to head to the roof for one last breather.

Climbing the stairs, he met more people who congratulated him. The anxiety built. He opened the roof door and a blast of cold air hit his face. He began to relax slightly. Suddenly, something large moved over to his right. He looked over to see a man in a hospital gown, dressing gown, and slippers standing leaning over the edge of the roof wall about to throw himself off the building. "Stop, dont do it" Luc cried. The man turned around with a start, obviously unaware that there was anyone else on the roof. "Why shouldn't I?" asked the man.

"Well, if you fall at that exact spot where you are you will land on someone's car and that will mean a long, drawn out agonising death. But if you move about 2 foot to your right you will land on solid concrete which at this height will mean instant death" replied Luc calmly.

"That's disgusting. What kind of mind thinks like that? You're evil" replied the man disgusted.

"I'm not evil. I'm a trauma surgeon and I've seen alot of people from every walk of life try to kill themselves, get it wrong, and just cause themselves months and months of agony." replied Luc matter-of-factly.

Both men were silent for what seemed to be ages as they considered what the other had said and what to say next. Eventually Luc cried out "What's your name?" to the man.

"My name's John" the other man replied reluctantly.

"And why are you here John? I mean other than to you-know" asked Luc.

"I was brought in with pains in my stomach this morning and they found cancer, alot of it" replied John.

"I'm sorry to hear that John" replied Luc in a heartfelt tone.

"If you think that's bad, my wife who I thought was the love of my life decided to run off with my best friend last night too, said she couldnt put up with another year of my miserable face!" exclaimed John. "The funny thing is, the bloke she ran off with is urglier than me!" continued John laughing.

Luc didn't know whether to laugh at this or not. He wished Sacha or Eddie was up here with him, one of them would know what to do. They'd know how to talk to John and get him to come back from the edge. Luc formed a plan, he got out his mobile phone and texted the words "Roof, help now" to Sacha who he knew would be coming to the hospital shortly to pick him up.

John had gone quiet but as Luc inched closer he could hear low sobs coming from him. "John, talk to me. Tell me what happened with your wife? I'm supposed to be getting married today. Do you have any advice for me?" asked Luc thinking that this might distract John.

"Yeah, dont do it. Run as far away as you can" replied John.

"The thing is I did that already and she ended up nearly destroying herself" replied Luc honestly. "When I came back I tried to help her and I did for a while but then she left me to get herself cleaned up. That nearly destroyed me. The only thing that pulled me through was our son" continued Luc.

"Then she came back to me too and we started living together and were happy. But today, our wedding day, I had to come up here for some space because everyone wishing me good luck around the hospital was making me anxious, I couldn't breathe" said Luc.

"It sounds to me like you need to stop listening to other people and decide for yourself what you want" replied John.

"But I want her. I couldn't lose her again, I need her." said Luc puzzled.

"Yes, but do you actually need her to be your wife? It sounds to me like you are happy the way you are. Getting married is just a piece of paper these days. It's being committed to each other that counts not whats on a piece of paper" replied John wisely. "Take it from me, I thought I was married faithfully until I found out my wife was shagging my best friend, the piece of paper didn't stop her cheating on me, didnt keep her committed to me" continued John.

"Why would you need it?" he asked Luc.

"I guess you're right. We do have a beautiful son together and another baby on the way. How much more committed to her does she need me to be? We can always make it official some day, it doesnt have to be today." replied Luc.

John went quiet for a few minutes while Luc thought about what he said. Eventually, John climbed down off the side of the wall and got back down on the roof. He walked over to Luc.

"Thank you mate, you made me realise what's important. I have a beautiful grandson that I never get to see because my wife stopped me seeing him. She didnt approve of my daughter's boyfriend and threw her out when she was pregnant so I've never seen him. Now there's nothing stopping me seeing them is there. My daughter always let me know where she was secretly" replied John with a smile.

"What about the cancer?" asked Luc.

"I'll fight it as long as I can for my grandson's sake" replied John.

"I'll have a look at your chart when we get down and see if I can recommend a good oncologist for your type of cancer, its the least I can do" replied Luc.

"Thanks mate" replied John. "But dont you have somewhere to be?" asked John.

"Luc, there you are. I've been looking all over for you" shouted Sacha coming out of the roof door. "Hurry we're already late" he continued hurrying Luc along.

Chapter 18:

Luc and Sacha hurried to the wedding venue but were about 30 mins late. They were greeted by Jane and Chrissie who were angry. They made their apologies and explained that Luc was talking down a suicidal man on the roof of the hospital. "Where's Eddie? I need to speak to her" asked Luc anxioulsy.

"She's in the side room here beside me and she wants to talk to you" replied Chantelle coming out of the room. Luc walked in.

"Where were you? I thought you'd ran away again. They couldn't find you" Eddie cried tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I got stuck on the roof with a suicidal man. I had to keep him calm and talking until Sacha found us" explained Luc pulling her close.

"what happened? Is he ok?" she asked.

"Yes, he's fine. We talked about a few things and he realised he had a reason to live after all, his grandson" Luc explained.

"Oh, thank god!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Eddie, there's something else I need to speak to you about" said Luc.

"Yes me too" replied Eddie anxiously. "You first" she continued.

"No, ladies first" replied Luc.

"Luc, sweetheart. I dont want to get married today" she said shyly.

"Oh thank god for that, neither do I" replied Luc relieved.

"We're not breaking up, just not getting married right?" asked Eddie.

"Yes, of course sweetheart" replied Luc. Luc lifted her up off the ground in one swoop and kissed her passionately.

After a few minutes of kissing they came up for air. "What'll we tell the guests?" Eddie asked.

"We'll just have to tell them that the wedding has been postponed until some future date but the leaving party is still on and we are still together and one big family. And I supposed we can tell them about junior here too" he said while patting Eddie's stomach.

"Sounds like a plan. My mother's not going to like this, we'll be expelled from church!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Oh, well" replied Luc.

"By the way Miss KcKee, you look beautiful today" said Luc.

"You look very handsome yourself Mr Hemingway" Eddie said before giving her not-husband a lingering kiss on the lips.

"Lets go have some fun, the first dance is mine!" she exclaimed pulling Luc out the door behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

Hope you guys are still enjoying this. Here's a bit more...Not sure how much longer it will go on. XX.

Chapter 19:

The next morning Luc woke up with a pounding headache like nothing he had experienced before. He was in his boxers and tshirt and Eddie was in bed beside him. "Oh, god. My head!" he exclaimed.

Eddie woke up and mumbled. "There's a glass of water and 2 paracetamol on the locker beside you".

Luc took the tablets and washed them down with the water, a ping noise coming from the glass as he picked it up.

"Why does it feel like I have a hangover and why am I wearing my wedding ring?" he asked Eddie.

"You've got Liam and Sacha and Micheal to blame for that" replied Eddie sleepily. She put her hand up to wipe the sleep from her eyes and Luc saw she was wearing her wedding ring too.

"Ok, tell me what happened?" he begged.

"How much do you remember?" asked Eddie.

"Well, I remember that we cancelled getting married. Your mother wasnt impressed that we didnt get married. I remember we had the leaving party. We were dancing and we had a really good time but then it all gets a bit hazy" replied Luc.

"Do you remember drinking the sparkling wine?" asked Eddie.

"Yes, Liam kept bringing me glasses of it. He told me it was the non-alcoholic one. Oh, the little so-and-so!" exclaimed Luc as realisation dawned on him.

"Yes, Liam got you drunk for a laugh. You were actually very funny drunk and such a flirt" replied Eddie giggling.

"Oh, god. How will I ever live it down?" asked Luc ashamed.

"Dont worry, we wont be seeing most of those people again or at least not for a while. We're moving to Leeds remember" she replied.

"Yes I suppose. That still doesnt explain about the wedding rings though" said Luc.

"Well, Sacha and Michael were a bit worse for wear by the end of the night and so were you. You all started talking about how good of a surgeon Michael is and you were all saying how he had the power of life and death over his patients and you and Sacha started calling him "god". You and Sacha came up with the idea of getting Michael to "marry" us as he was god so you made me and you say our vows in front of Michael and we exchanged wedding rings and he gave us his "blessing" as it were" explained Eddie.

"But why did you go along with it? You were sober weren't you?" asked Luc.

"I only went along with it because it was funny and I didnt have the heart to turn you down" she replied before kissing him on the lips. Luc thought about this for a while fiddling with the wedding ring on his finger. He looked at the ring and looked at Eddie.

"You know, the only reason I didnt want to go ahead with the wedding ceremony yesterday was because it felt like we were only getting married to please everyone else. It didnt feel like we were doing it for us. What if we went down to the registrar's office just you, me and Lucas and got married now?" asked Luc.

"Are you serious?" asked Eddie.

"Yes, why not. Unless you still dont want to get married? I want to make sure that, god forbid, if anything happens to me that you and the children would be ok legally speaking" replied Luc.

Eddie thought about it for a few minutes. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, Eddie. I want us to be husband and wife and not just for the legal stuff but because we will belong to each other. So we'll both know that we will be there for each other no matter what happens" replied Luc in a heartfelt tone.

Eddie rolled over on top of Luc in the bed and kissed him on the lips. "Ok, if you're sure. Then I do" she said before kissing Luc passionately. For the first time in a long time Eddie felt safe and was sure that she now had a partner in life who would be by her side no matter what. She finally felt that when Luc had told her he would never leave her again outside the campervan when he had kidnapped her that time that he was actually telling her the truth.

Chapter 20:

Later that day after sneaking out of the flat, Luc and Eddie exchanged vows in front of Lucas and another couple who were at the registrars office arranging their own wedding. They celebrated becoming husband and wife by having a meal in a local pub, just the 3 of them. They returned to the flat in time to see Jane and Liam leave to head back to Leeds. Eddie, Luc and Lucas followed a couple of days later after packing up the contents of the flat and saying some tearful good byes to all of their friends in Holby.

Mr Heminway and Nurse Hemingway soon settled into life in the hospital in Leeds. Nurse Heminway enjoying running the fractures and anti-natal clinics in the hospital 2 days a week.

Six months later the Heminways welcomed the arrival of a bouncing baby girl who they named Emily. Lucas and Emily grew up to be beautiful, funny and loving children thanks to their adoring parents.

Luc went on to publish his research work and ended up teaching part time in the local university. He loved challenging his students and they loved his quirky way of teaching them. Eddie continued nursing part time enjoying passing on her knowledge to the younger nurses.

Eddie and Luc enjoyed bring the children on camping holidays in the campervan when they were old enough. They had many happy days in it before it finally packed in and had to be sold for scrap.

For Emily's 16th birthday Eddie gave her the black leather jacket she had loved and had kept for her. Emily loved it and proudly showed it off to Luc who was in his study working. Luc later left the study and went to find Eddie in the kitchen making a sandwich for herself. He walked up to Eddie putting his arms around her waist and kissing her on the neck. Eddie smiled. "What's come over you?" she asked Luc.

"That leather jacket just brought back some happy memories. I remember you were wearing it that night you came into my campervan in Holby when we had the legionnaires outbreak. It was the first time we you-know spent the night together" he replied lustily.

"Oh yes" replied Eddie as she turned around. They began kissing each other passionately.

"Would you two ever get a room!" exclaimed Lucas as he entered the kitchen intent on raiding the fridge. Eddie and Luc pulled apart but Luc took Eddie by the hand leading her upstairs.

"We're going for a nap. Try not to wreck the place while we're not looking" replied Luc.

"Just remember you promised to bring us bowling later for Emily's birthday" shouted Lucas after them. Lucas thought it was sweet but slightly gross that his parents could still be so passionate about each other after about 18 years together. He hoped he would find a love like theirs one day.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi all, i think this is going to be the final chapter. I wasnt expecting this to go on this long. Hope you all really enjoyed it. I just want to finish off by revealing what happened to some of the characters.

Chapter 21:

It was about 2 hours later. Luc and Eddie were up in their bedroom enjoying their nap. They were cuddled up in bed together.

"We should really do this more often" said Eddie as she stroked Luc's bare chest.

"What? Have an afternoon sex session? I didnt think our sex life was that bad!" exclaimed Luc.

"No, I meant spend some time togther, just the two of us. Maybe we should start going out on date nights once or twice a month. I think we can safely leave the kids on their own for a few hours now. They're 16 and 17 now, you know" Eddie replied.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Are you sure we can trust them in the house on their own?" asked Luc.

"Yes, I think so. They're good kids. I know Lucas can be a bit wild at times but I dont think Emily would let him get up to any trouble. She's way too sensible, she takes after you like that" replied Eddie.

"Ok. Maybe we'll try it next week. There's a documentary film coming out that's based on one of Corey Eagles' books that I wouldn't mind going to see at the cinema. Do you want to go see it?" Luc asked.

"Yes, sounds good. Maybe we could go to dinner before hand?" asked Eddie.

"Ok, That's a plan then" replied Luc.

"God, can you believe our baby girl is 16 years old" Eddie said whistfully.

"It only seems like yesterday that you gave birth to her. What a night that was! I thought we'd never get to the hospital through that storm. The rain was mad that night. We were lucky we didnt end up crashing the car" Luc said shuddering.

They laid there together for a few minutes thinking about all that had happened to them in the intervening years.

"It makes me sad that Mum didnt get to see Emily and Lucas all grown up" said Eddie.

"Yes, it is sad but I know she was proud of them and of you. She told me so the day before she passed away as I was giving her her medication. She really loved looking after them after school those final years. She was happy in the end. She believed that she had finally made up for all of the bad things she had done to you and Liam" said Luc.

"I suppose she did. I hope Liam thinks that too" replied Eddie.  
Luc pulled Eddie close and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She responded by moving up in the bed until her face was level with his. "Sometimes I think I am the luckiest woman in the world, I have two beautiful kids and the best husband in the world. I love you Luc" she said before kissing her husband passionately.

Before Luc could say anything there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Mum, Dad, are we going bowling or what?" asked Emily from the hallway.

"Yes, sweetheart. Do you want to stop off for burgers before it?" asked Luc.

"Yes dad, we're starving!" replied Emily.

"Ok, we'll be down in a few minutes" he replied.

Luc turned to Eddie and gave her a kiss. "I love you too. Come on, we'd better get up and keep our promise to our beloved children" he said before kissing Eddie one final time.

"oh, alright then!" replied Eddie reluctantly. "But I get to choose where we stop for burgers" continued Eddie with a smile. They both got dressed and went downstairs to the children.

Chapter 22:

About 2 hours later they arrived at the bowling alley after stopping off for food along the way. They paid for their lane and split up into teams. Luc and Emily on one team and Eddie and Lucas on the other. They began playing and Eddie and Lucas' team were soon winning.

"Dad, you have to stop being so scientific about this and just relax when you release the ball" Emily adivsed Luc as he went to take his turn. He hadn't been doing well, he'd only knocked down 3 pins out of 3 attempts so far.

"When did you become such an expert on bowling?" asked Luc.

"I have been here before a few times with Charlotte. I'm quite good at it you know" replied Emily. Luc reluctantly took Emily's advice and managed to knock down 8 pins.

"Yipee!" exclaimed Luc and Emily in unison as Emily ran over to hug Luc.

"Good work dad. You're only 25 pins behind now!" exclaimed Lucas slightly sarcastically.

"It's quite hard to concentrate in here with all the noise. Besides, It's the taking part that counts not the winning" replied Luc.

"Yeah, whatever you say dad" replied Lucas.

With that there was a commotion about 3 lanes down. A woman was screaming at the top of her voice "Please help him, he's collapsed". Luc and Eddie instinctively rushed up to the man.

"What happened to him?" Luc asked as he knelt down by the man.

"He was clutching his chest and he just fell to the floor" replied the man's panic-stricken wife.

"My husband's a doctor and I'm a nurse. Can everyone give us some space please?" said Eddie. Luc checked to see if the man was breathing and to see if he had a pulse.

"He doesnt have a pulse and he's not breathing. I think its a heart attack" said Luc. "Have we got a defibrillator here? And can someone call for an ambulance? Tell them that the man has had a heat attack" continued Luc.

"Eddie, you start doing compressions and I'll do the breathing" Luc instructed. Eddie did as Luc had asked and they began performing CPR on the man.

"The ambulance is on its way. Sorry, we dont have a defibrillator." replied the bowling alley manager.

"We'll have to keep him going with CPR then, we should swap over" said Luc looking at Eddie.

Eddie could hear Emily crying behind her."Lucas, can you bring you sister away from here?" she asked. Lucas grabbed Emily and brought her over to their lane, he put his arms around his sister hugging her as she was still crying.

About 5 minutes later they heard the ambulance pull up. Eddie and Luc were still working to keep the man alive. Liam ran over to them. "Hey sis, what have we got here? he asked Eddie.

"Paul here collapsed holding his chest about 7 minutes ago. We couldn't find a pulse and he wasnt breathing so we've been performing CPR on him" replied Eddie.

"Give me some adrenaline and charge the defibrillator" asked Luc as Liam put an oxygen mask on Paul. Luc grabbed the defibrillator paddles and shocked Paul.

"We've got a pulse, lets get him to the hospital. I'll come with you" said Luc. Luc, Liam and Liam's colleague picked up Paul and put him on the stretcher.

"We'll follow you to the hospital" Eddie said to Luc as they were leaving.

"Thank you" Paul's wife said to Eddie as she was leaving.

"It's nothing. It's our job" replied Eddie before Paul's wife gave her a quick hug and left for the hospital.

Eddie went over to Emily and Lucas and gave them both a big hug. "You and dad were amazing" said Lucas.

"It's all down to training" replied Eddie humbly.

"I think I'm going to become a doctor like dad" said Lucas.

"What's wrong with being a nurse like me?" asked Eddie.

"Nothing, but I think I'd quite like performing surgery though" replied Lucas.

Eddie just smiled. "You can be whatever you want Lucas. Come on lets go to the hospital" she replied while putting her arm around Emily.

"I've got all our coats and bags" said Emily as they walked out the door. "I think I'd like to be a vet when I get older. I love animals" she continued.

"Sounds like me and your dad are going to be broke in a few years after paying for these careers of yours" replied Eddie laughing.

Chapter 23:

Eddie and the children arrived at the hospital and found out that Paul had been rushed straight into surgery. They found Luc up on the cardiology ward talking to the nurses.

"How's Paul?" asked Eddie.

"He's been brought straight into surgery. You'll never guess who's performing it, only Oliver Valentine." said Luc.

"You mean Ollie who worked with us in Holby?" asked Eddie.

"Yes, the very same. Apparently, he's been working here for about 6 months" replied Luc.

"Paul's in very good hands then. We'll have to invite Ollie around for dinner some night" replied Eddie.

"Good idea. Come on lets go home, the kids are probably tired. I've left our number for Oliver so he can let us know how Paul gets on" replied Luc.

"Wasnt it funny that Liam was the ambulanceman who came to the scene. He's very good at his job, isnt he?" asked Eddie.

"Yes he is, he obviously loves his job. He thought that Paul was very lucky that we were at the bowling alley, Liam thought that Paul wouldn't have made it but for our quick intervention" replied Luc.

Luc, Eddie and the children went home to enjoy the last few hours of Emily's 16th birthday. A birthday she would never forget. Paul went on the make a full recovery as Ollie reported to them when he came around for dinner.

In the years that followed Lucas and Emily went off to university. Lucas to become a surgeon and Emily to become a vet. During Emily's first year at university Luc and Eddie took 6 month sabbaticals from their jobs and went on the round-the-world trip that Luc had promised Eddie on their first Christmas together. They visited all of the places Luc had been in his younger days and a few new places that neither of them had been but had always wanted to go.

After they had both retired they continued to travel extensively, enjoying seeing the world together. Lucas and Emily gave them 3 grandchildren who they adored and were very proud of.

Eddie passed away in her 85th year in her sleep one night leaving a heartbroken Luc behind. Luc passed away 2 weeks later, some say of a broken heart. Lucas and Emily knew that their parents had had a great life together, had loved them and their grandchildren dearly and were finally together forever. All of their friends and family remarked about what a pair of odd people they both were but that they had been a perfect match for each other.

The End! I hope you all liked it and the ending wasnt too sad for you. Emerl xx.


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